Government boosts funding for nutrition program for children under six to Rs 15,245 crore

Pregnant women and lactating mothers got a substantial financial assistance in the budget. The Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY), the Centre’s key maternity benefit program targeted at pregnant and lactating mothers, the allocation has gone up from Rs 400 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 21,000 crore in the new fiscal.

The leg up to the maternity benefit scheme follows the announcement made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 31 to transfer Rs 6,000 crore to the bank accounts of pregnant women across 650 districts of India.

The government’s supplementary nutrition program for children under six also got a boost with an allocation of Rs 15, 245 crore.